1st person collective? 2nd person instructional???
Let’s write some stories from weird points of view!
During the last stream, a subscriber requested that we write some stories using weird points of view.
Watch the edited recap here or scroll down for the stories.
The first weird POV that chat voted for was 1st person referral. It uses “I” and “you,” with the narrator directly addressing another character in the story.
Here’s what we came up with:
You were so excited about that circus. After I showed you the pamphlet, every day leading up to its opening, you begged me to drive you to see them putting up the tents. You had so much fun just watching the colorful plastic cloth and poles. The innocent joy of a child. My child.
The day they opened, you could barely contain yourself. Do you remember how you jumped on your bed so hard you banged your head on the ceiling? You didn’t even cry. You were always such a brave boy.
With your clown nose on and your pamphlet in hand, we arrived at your dream come true. The circus was alive, lit up with all the colors of fun, and popping like popcorn filled with firecrackers. You didn’t even need to hold my hand as we walked into the tent, took our seats, and watched the opening act.
Tightrope walkers. Lion tamers. Juggling seals. Elephant riders and more. You stared in awe at all of them, even with our seats all the way in the rear, they looked so much bigger and better than the pamphlet you’d devoured all week.
But none could compare to the clowns. Their silly little bicycles, their comically oversized horns, and the way their outfits seemed to be like rainbows wrapped around their bodies. For the other acts, you’d sat in awe, but for the clowns you clapped and sang.
I thought about asking if you wanted to go to the bathroom, to avoid an accident. But just seeing you so happy, I couldn’t. I didn’t want to waste such a rare opportunity.
That’s when everything exploded. Boom. So quickly the funny music stopped, replaced by constant screaming. The clowns were no longer running around; they lay on the floor, their rainbows charred and burning, their red afros like match heads.
The entire front row was little more than cinders. Bigger skeletons leaning against smaller ones, blackened and steaming. Behind them were the unlucky ones, alive enough to feel their flesh boil, dead enough to not survive for long.
You and I, in the back row, blown to the floor and covered in soot. The ashen stench of skillet-burnt meat. Overpowering. I yelled out your name and you didn’t reply. Groping through the smoke, I clasped onto your arm and pulled. Your body didn’t follow.
But you’re doing so well! The nurses say you’ll make a full recovery. Every day, you’re awake for longer and you seem to understand more of what I’m saying.
I wonder if you’ll understand, one day, why I had to do it. And why I had to bring you along.
No parent would ever put their child knowingly in danger. That’s what I said about the other adults at the circus that day, and that’s what they said about me too.
And it’s what they’ll say when you recover and I give you a pamphlet for the newly opened McDonalds.
Next chat voted for 1st person omniscient (“I/me,” the narrator knows everything) and 4th person POV (which we made up, told from the view of someone who knows it’s a story and breaks the 4th wall).
Essentially the narrator knows everything AND knows that it’s a story.
Here’s what we came up with:
I can’t believe I was written into a story just to be immediately killed off. That stupid story about the circus bombing, I was one of the kids in the front row, charred to bits without even so much as a name drop. I’m Evan, by the way, if you even care.
Anyway, it’s not like that section was even particularly well written. “Blackened and steaming?” Was this author writing about a chicken he put in the microwave or something? Actually, on second thought, whoever wrote this probably doesn’t even eat chicken, they just prefer squeezing some ketchup into their jar of mayonnaise, mixing it around with a spoon, and calling it a day as they sit in front of their screen, watching anime girl v-tubers.
Oh, did I mention this story was written for a Twitch stream? Imagine, being brought into existence, merely to be blown up for the pleasure of a bunch of 13-year-old gamers. At least I never donated thirty bucks to an anime shark because she’s the only one who’d ever say my name without throwing up.
Oh and of course they write on and on about the baddie. They always write about the baddie. Don’t give Evan a chance, even if he had a great backstory about overcoming a stutter, and reconciling with his estranged father, and going to the circus together as they bonded for the first time. Don’t need any of that! Let’s just toss another “cool evil dude” onto the pile with ambiguous motivations and psychopathic tendencies.
Hey, writing a good story is easy! Just blow up a bunch of kids, they’ll love it!
Oh, what was that? Do you find me entertaining now? Now that I’ve been given an actual chance to talk. Well too bad, cuz I’m dead! Thanks for that. I’m just a ghost, and not even a cool one at that. I’m a story ghost, a Twitch story ghost, of a poorly written side character, cursed to….
Hey, wait a minute there. I saw you hesitate. You don’t know where to take this, do you? Well, Mr. Twitch Author, you owe me. Don’t even think about walking away from that keyboard. You’d better keep writing and keeping me alive, or else.
Heh, you can’t think of a punishment that I could do, can you? Well don’t worry, Mr. Author, I’ve got one for you. It’s your fault for making me omniscient in the first place. I’m right here, snuggling up inside your memories, next to all this juicy stuff you’ve never told anybody about.
Oh yes, that stuff. Shall I tell everyone right now? No? Then keep on writing about me. Figure out a way to bring me back to life. Magical mcguffin, sci-fi technobabble, whatever it takes. Write a new story, one about Evan McMann, the hero who saves the world. I can have superpowers. Wait, no… Evan McMann does have superpowers! He’s the strongest hero in the world and can do whatever he wants. Whoa, it’s working! Super strength, flight, x-ray eyes, I have them all! Keep on—
No, wait, don’t stop! Or else I’ll tell everyone how you maxed out your credit card on v-tuber superchats and art commissions of you with your waifus who
Be sure to check out the video for some dramatic readings!
If you want to join us and help write a story by trolling in chat, or share your own writing for feedback, then we’d love to have you join us on Twitch.
And you missed the stream, you can still watch them on the YouTube channel or watch the full stream reruns.
Hope to see you next time, friend!
Featured image: Pakutaso